Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™

Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™ (TDT) is a new therapeutic pathway specially designed by The Tinnitus Clinic for patients who suffer with invasive tinnitus.

TDT provides a bespoke range of therapies that are selected to meet your personal treatment requirements. Taking into account your tinnitus acoustic profile which was identified at the Initial assessment, and your very personal experience of tinnitus, Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy uses a number of distinct therapeutic techniques together. These serve to control your tinnitus awareness with the long term goal of encouraging the brain to filter out the tinnitus perception from your consciousness. This filtering process is known as habituation.

TDT helps you to take control of the impact that tinnitus is having on your life. The therapy aims to redirect your brain’s attention away from the tinnitus signal and help the natural habituation process to occur so that, over time, you become progressively less aware of your tinnitus symptoms.

The supporting activities which we ask you to engage in will also help you to cope with the day to day emotional impact of your symptoms.

Step One - Starting the therapy

At the initial assessment appointment, your audiologist will have discussed TDT with you and have identified the right device for your personal acoustic tinnitus profile. This sound enrichment therapy is designed to sustainably reduce the focus that you are giving to the tinnitus sounds.

As an independent company we can select the best device for you from all manufacturers. We constantly look for improvements in the devices and may change our recommendation if a better device becomes available.

Step Two – Making progress

Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™ will work best when you apply the self management programme we plan for you.

This may include relaxation exercises, behavioural therapy or additional sessions of Tinnitus Psychodynamic counselling which has been shown to be especially helpful to those with long standing tinnitus symptoms.

It is also important that you take care of your devices, ensuring that they do not get blocked with wax for example.

Step Three – Take control

At the last appointment of your therapy, we will provide you with guidance on stabilising the improvements that you have made and re-evaluating the prognosis of your tinnitus for the future. Based on your needs, we will offer advice regarding exercise, and food and drink habits related to tinnitus as well as encouraging you to continue with the self management programme we have agreed with you.

TDT Clinical Study with 23 patients

Before TDT

After TDT (six months)

The 23 patients at the start of the clinical study* had varying degrees of tinnitus. After 6 months the number of patients that had Catastrophic, Severe and Moderate
levels of tinnitus declined significantly.

Catastrophic: 4% 0%

Severe: 32% 9%

Moderate: 44% 9%

*The patient’s severity of tinnitus was measured using the THI international standard method.
For further information on the categories of tinnitus click here.

Sleep counselling

As tinnitus becomes more noticeable in a quiet environment, it may affect your sleep patterns: either preventing you from falling asleep or waking you up. If you are anxious about your tinnitus, this can lead to negative thoughts, raised stress levels and changes in behaviour.

In turn, this can make the tinnitus seem more noticeable and intrusive, especially when you are trying to sleep. Sleep therapy involves reflecting on your beliefs about sleep, sleep record, and evaluating those negative automatic thoughts about tinnitus. The counselling process aims to change attitudes to tinnitus, and ultimately improve your sleep quality.

Relaxation training

You may have noticed that your tinnitus is worse if you are anxious or tired. The Tinnitus Clinic audiologists will teach you relaxation techniques to help reduce the invasiveness of your tinnitus, its effects on your stress levels and everyday life. Our audiologists will train you in breathing and muscle relaxation techniques, and show you how to keep a record of your relaxation exercises.

Behavioural Therapy

Behavioural Therapy is a form of treatment for tinnitus that examines how thought processes adversely affect behaviour and how you can change those thoughts. It is a method for reducing the negative emotional reaction to tinnitus and often serve to reduce the associated anxiety. Behavioural Therapy uses relaxation, cognitive restructuring of thoughts, and uses situational examples to help improve your feelings about your tinnitus.

Patient Stories

Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™ treatments are being carried out in all of The Tinnitus Clinics in the UK. Here are some of our patients who want to tell you their story.

Treatment – Tinnitus Desensitisation Treatment

Though the tinnitus was tolerable at the time – it was after a bout of stress following a family bereavement in early 2015 that an unsuspecting Sandra began to feel the condition slowly taking over her day-to-day life.

Treatment - Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™

“I feel The Tinnitus Clinic is on my side – they understand what you are going through. This all makes me feel that I am in control, and the tinnitus is not in control of me. I owe a great deal to Kathryn and the rest of the team at The Tinnitus Clinic.”

Treatment – Tinnitus Desensitisation Treatment

Mike Harding is a retired Human Resources professional and lecturer from Manchester. He had experienced low-intensity tinnitus for approximately ten years, until recently, when it became far worse over night.

Treatment - Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™

Keith, a retired farmer from Kent, first noticed his tinnitus about three years ago. “It sounded like a very loud ringing in my left ear. Quite frankly, it destroyed my every day and night. There was no respite at all and it was so intrusive. I felt like I couldn’t look forward to anything at all."

Treatment - Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™

Retired florist from Middlesex, Astrid Pryce first experienced tinnitus about four and a half years ago. “It didn’t start over night; it was a gradual thing. Six months previous to this, I’d looked down as I was getting out of the car and both of my ears went pop, like when a plane comes into land. It seemed quite strange. I held my nose and blew out, to try and clear my ears; both ears cleared but my right ear quickly blocked again and felt pressured. I kept trying but I couldn’t clear it.”

Treatment - Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™

Leo McAuliffe, an 80-year old retired gentleman from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, suffered from tinnitus for over ten years, until a new treatment – TDT - changed his life dramatically. Leo didn’t have any history of audiological issues but was exposed to a great deal of noise whilst motorcycle racing.

Treatment - Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy™

“Sometimes if I am tired or a bit stressed with work or something then the ringing’s really loud… then I will just get the device and put it in my ear and give myself a bit of break. I can turn it up loud or quiet depending on how I feel and that makes me feel more in control.”

Call us on 0800 030 6617

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About Us

The Tinnitus Clinic is the leading provider of the latest evidence-based tinnitus treatments in the UK. We offer a highly personalised service and a commitment to audiological best practices to significantly reduce your tinnitus symptoms and hearing loss.